Apparatus for guiding and threading fibers



Dec.. 28, 1948. wfF. HOLTSCHULTE ET I 2,457,777

APPARATUS FOR GUIDING AND THREADING FIBERS I 8%Z4VQQALM ATTOPNE Y5 Patented Dec. 28, 1948 APPARATUS FOR GUIDINGWANDH THREADINGfFIBERS William F; Holtschulte, Newark, and SamueliDt Philipps, Granville, hio,=-assignors .to' TOWERS? Corning. Fiberglas Corporatiomz'lloledo, Ohio; a

corporation of. Delaware Application April '7, 1945, Serial r m sewer (Cl. 491F7:)

9 Claims.

This. invention? relates generally to apparatus for producingtand. continuouslyattenuating fibers of thermoplastic materiat and refersmore partitula'rly to. land improvedithreading and guide mechanism for' thee fibers;

The present invention iszreadily adaptable to operations: requiring .atheralignment or spacing of a multiplicity 'of': single fibers ror strands of" fibers and particularly 'inlinstances: where" the fineness of the fibers andspacing :is such as tomake' the handling of individual fibers; atedious operation.

The forming of'fine continuoustype glass fibershas been chosen-as an example of the use which adevice of-thepresent. construction :is' well adapted. In one 'such:methodit:*is' the practice to flow a plurality of streamsxofimolten glass from a container or melter'an'd attenuate the' streams to filaments and feed the"fllamentsrzcontinuously into a high velocity flam e 'of a burner to form very fine fibers. With this type vof. fiber forming: operation it is necessary'to introduc'ethe: pri"- mary fibers singly into: their flame and spaced apart so that they do not weld3t0gether when softened by thehighdegree of heat within the flame.

In orderto achieve maximum"production of fibers and burner efficiency theflbersrare normally spaced as close as practicable by means: of aguide which supports the fibers 'asithey are attenuated by the gaseous'blast'." The primaryglass-fiberst or filaments are pullediromithe container: orifice at a uniform rate by continuouslvrotatingfriction rolls or the like to: assure atsubstanti'ally uniform fiber diameter; H'eretofore; itha-sbeenthecpractice to thread each fiber: separatelyibyhand into the guide when'thesoperation:wasxstarted. This operation was not only tediouszibut'required great length ofy'time when amultiplicity' of primary fibers was employed: Also'thi's" hand feed! ing resulted ina loss::of,.'material' duel to the-time interval. between the introductionirofthe first and last fibers'int'ostherfiameu.

There are; of? course; manyiotherafiber fabri eating processes ina'which. indivi'idualvfibers are guided and to: whichrthepresent" invention: may be readily adapted;

It is one ofthe'principalxobjects Of .thlS invention to reducettheitime requiredftouthread the guide with the .fibers :providing: for simultaneouslythreading? allitheufibersvinto the guide in only a-fractionaof theatime-previouslv requiredto separately thread eachifibfer in-th'e guide.-

A further: object "or this invention. is to provide a threadingcdevicecapableoi beings-used in; con.- nectionzwithlequipment forpmducinnshssnbers wherein the. latter are formed by flowing streams. ofthe thermoplastic material through= feederorifi-ces arranged-in a row-and-whichare spaced laterally from-each- 'other greater distances than the spacing-between theg-uide channels for the fibers; As -a result/the fibers travelin converg ing' paths from thefeeder to the guide"chan nels' forming; a fan. This arrangement of thefibers tends to complicate threading of the'fibers inzthe .gui'de channels.

Intaccordanceiwiththis invention; a removable guide part is provi'dedihaving a guiding :portion in, which-there isfla pluralityof grooves jwhich correspond innumber to the. number 7 of 'fibers and-,lalso. correspond lateral. spacing .to v the lateral" spacing rat-the guideuchannels. The guide has a comb portiom extending r at substantially rightang-les tdthe guide portion and formed with a like number of grooves which flareiornfan outwardly sufficientlyto correspond to'the spacing of the fibers adjacentlthe delivery side of the feeder: Thus; at; initiation of the: operation of therxprocess the fan: at fibers-are-gathered ,il'l-w a flattenedl bundles by hand:- and i'fintroduced .be-. tweemthezmovingiteederr rolls; the actionrrof which tends' to spread out: the fibers due to: their tends; ency td-assume a right angle relation with: their source at the orii'ice; The fibers thus acquire substantially =-their final operating arrangement while still non-uniformly spaced.

Themoving fibers adjacent the -feeder=orifices are simultaneously engaged in the grooves in the comb and while in this position; the threading devi'ceds lowered'irom the feeder' and swung through approximately;' to engage the fibers in thetgrooves of the guide portion of the device. The. device is. then positioned over the pulling rolls withlthe' grooves inthe. guide portion thereor inali'gnment with the-channels in the stationary fiber guide so as to enable the fibers to enter the latter =.channel-s. This arrangement. greatly facilitates threadingsthe fibers intofthe. feeding and. guidingmech'anism. and thereby reduces the idle time-otthe; equipmentto avminimum.

Therforegoing as. welloasnother objects will be made moremapparentmas..this. description, pro-- seeds; especially when: considered. inv connection with the accompanying; drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 isair-agmentary plan viewvof a device constructed accordance with this. invention;

Figure z isa sectional-view taken. substantially onl-the. planeindicated by the. line 2-2 of Figure 1 ande-also-i diagrammatically showing a feeder in comhinationrw i-th tha :dev-ice;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the device shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Figures 4 and 5 are fragmentary sectional views showing parts of the apparatus in different positions;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the combined guide and comb construction;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially in the plane indicated by the line 1-1 of Figure and Figure 8 is a fragmentary view of the dew'ce shown in Figure 6 when placed in fiber engaging position below a feeder bushing.

For the purpose of illustrating this invention, the combined threading and guiding device is shown in connection with the production of glass fibers. However, it will be understood as this description proceeds that the device may be advantageously employed in practically any instance Where the spacing of fibers or filaments, regardless of their composition, is determined by a guide interposed between the fiber supplying means and the fiber processing equipment.

With the above in view, reference is made to Figure 2 of the drawings, wherein it will be noted that the reference character I indicates a feeder adapted to contain a body of molten glass and having a multiplicity of laterally spaced orifices I I through which molten glass flows in the form of streams. As the glass streams are drawn downwardly they harden upon leaving the feeder III to form filaments or fibers I2 and the filaments are then directed between a pair of driving rolls I3. The driving rolls, which may be of rubber or other resilient material are, respectively, rotatably supported at opposite sides of the path of the fibers and cooperate with one another to frictionally engage the fibers and attenuate them as they are fed into succeeding mechanism.

The fibers pass between the rolls I3 in lateral spaced relationship and enter a stationary guide I 4 supported directly beneath the rollers I3 and provided at its upper end with a slot I communicating with a series of channels I5. The lateral spacing of the channels I5 is usually somewhat less than the corresponding spacing of the orifices II, so that the fibers travel along converging paths from the feeder to the guide I4 and are thereby confined into a more compact space.

As shown in Figures 2, 4 and 5, the guide l4 comprises a pair of plates I5 and I6 having registering grooves in adjacent faces forming the channels I5. The primary fibers I2 are delivered by the guide to a position opposite a burner diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings and indicated by the reference character IT. The burner I! is preferably of the type capable of producing an intensely hot blast of extremely high velocity, so that the primary fibers are softened by the heat of the blast and are attenuated by the high velocity of the blast into extremely fine staple-like fibers.

Although the apparatus briefly described above enables forming glass or thermoplastic filaments in substantially continuous operation, nevertheless, there are instances when the process must be discontinued. For example, the operation of the apparatus must be discontinued periodically to make the necessary replacements or repairs and there are times when the apparatus must be shut down, because of breakage of one or more of the filaments. Regardless of the cause of the shut down,- it is necessary to thread the filaments into the guide I4 before operationof the equip- 4 ment is initiated. As previously stated, it has been the practice to handle each fiber separately during threading of the fibers into the guide. This requirement delayed initiating the process and materially reduced the production rate of the apparatus.

In accordance with the present invention, the time required to thread the filaments into the guide is substantially reduced by the device designated in the several figures of the drawings by the reference character I8. The device I8 comprises a guiding portion I 9 and a comb portion 20 extending at right angles from the guiding portion I9. The guiding portion I9 is formed with a plurality of grooves 2I corresponding in number and spacing to the channels I5 in the guide I4. The comb portion 20 is formed with a corresponding number of grooves 22 having the free ends spaced laterally from each other distances corresponding substantially to the lateral spacing of theorifices II in the feeder I0 and having the opposite ends registering with the entrant ends of the grooves 2 I. Theguiding portion I9 is adapted to be removably secured to the frame structure 25 above the rolls I3 with the grooves M respectively vertically aligned with the channels I5" so that the filaments I2 are guided by the portion I9 between the rolls I3 into the channels I 5' of the guide I4.

With the construction thus far described, it will be noted that when it is desired to initially start the operation of the apparatus, the device I8 is removed from its position in operative relation to the rolls I3. The operator then first grasps the fibers or filaments adjacent the orifices II in one hand and pulls them downwardly, breaking off the excess length of the fibers to even the ends of the resulting bundle which is then introduced between the rolls I3. As the fibers are pulled by the rolls I3 they tend to spread out between the rolls into approximately their operative relation and enter the slot I5 of the guide Id. The device I8 is then placed against the fibers in the region of the orifices with the comb portion 20 facing them so that the fibers enter the grooves 22. The comb 20 is then moved downwardly with the fibers or filaments in the grooves 22 and at the same time rotated through of travel to transfer the filaments into the grooves 2I of the guiding portion I9 of the threading device. In this position the device is replaced in the frame 25 and the fibers are held in the grooves by reason of the proximity of the end guide to the rolls as shown in Figure 2. In this latter position of the guide I 9, the grooves 2i are aligned with the channels I5 so that the rolls I3 may advance the filaments into their respective channels.

As the filaments are advanced downwardly they pass through the slot I5 and are deflected laterally outwardly from the guide I 4 by a deflector 24. The deflector 24 is supported for sliding movement in a generally vertical direction on the guide supporting structure 25 and in its retracted position shown in Figure 2 projects across all of the channels I5. In this connection, it will be noted that the plates forming the guide I4 are formed with a recess 26 to not only enable retracting the deflector 24 across the channels I5 but to also permit the filaments to pass out of the guide.

The deflector is primarily employed to prevent any of the fibers from prematurely entering the channels I5. When all of the fibers are passing uniformly through the slot I5 the deflector may be removed to the position shown in Figure 4 and t e filaments severed at a point directly above ran-mm ,guided'by a member 28-securedin theplate l6 and isprovided with'an elongated slot!!! therethrough to enable uninterrupted passage of the filaments through the slot l5 when the knife is in severing position. Thus it will be noted that the length of filaments deflected from the guide I4 may be instantly uniformly severed and removed from the guide upon retraction of the knife from the guide.

The fibers even though flexible in greater lengths are sufiiciently rigid when under the influence of the guide I9 and rolls I3 to hold their relative spacing and pass directly into their respective channels IS in the lower part of the guide M. The bottom edge of the guide terminates adjacent the flame of the burner i! into which the fibers are fed.

Various modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Fiber producing apparatus comprising a guide for positioning a plurality of fibers in lateral spaced relationship, a source for supplying fibers to the guide with the spacing between ad'- jacent fibers somewhat greater than the spacing of the fibers in the guide, and a fiber threading device having angularly positioned comb and guide portions, said comb portion engageable with the fibers during threading and said guide portion engageable with the fibers during guiding, said guide portion having fiber receiving grooves spaced laterally from each other distances corresponding to the fiber spacing effected by said guide, said comb also having grooves diverging from the grooves in the guide portion of the device and spaced from each other at the outer ends distances substantially corresponding to the spacing of the fibers at the source.

2. In a fiber producing apparatus including a guide for positioning a plurality of fibers in lateral spaced relationship, a source for supplying fibers to the guide with the spacing between adjacent fibers somewhat different than the spacing of the fibers in said guide, and a fiber threading device comprising a member associated with said guide and having angularly related grooved portions, one of said portions adapted at times to engage the fibers adjacent the source and 00- operating with said other portion to-alter the spacing between the fibers to correspond with the fiber spacing in said guide when said device is positioned adjacent the guide.

3. Fiber producing apparatus comprising a guide having a plurality of laterally spaced channels for respectively receiving a corresponding number of fibers, means for supplying fibers to the guide with the spacing between adjacent fibers somewhat greater than the spacing of the channels in the guide, means for threading the fibers into the channels including a device having angularly extending first and second portions, one of said portions with the fibers in advance of the guide and grooved to alter the lateral spacing of the fibers passing from the source of supply to the lateral spacing of the guide channels and said other portion having grooves for aligning the fibers with said channels, and means for continuously feeding said fibers.

engageable at times pbrtion provi'ded with l grooves 4:. in a fiber producing apparatus oinoluding spaced 'lateraily from each other, guide means iifor position-ing the fibers inpredeterm-inedlateral spaced relationship, I said guide having channels -for respectively receiving the fibers,-a threading "device removably .arranged between the supply amd fiber positioning' means comprising a guide 'registerable with the guide channels and having an angularly extending portionprovided -with grooves diverging from the entrantten'ds of thegrooves in said guide portion and operable at times to position said fibers in said guide grooves, and means for continuously feeding said fibers.

5. In a fiber producing apparatus including a feeder having a plurality of laterally spaced orifices for flowing a corresponding number of streams of glass to form filaments, means for continuously drawing said filaments, a guide spaced from the feeder having a plurality of channels spaced laterally from each other distances somewhat less than the distance between the orifices and respectively engageable with the filaments, a filament threading device comprising a removable member positioned between the feeder and guide for aligning fibers therein, said device having angularly extending guide and comb portions, said guide portion having filament receiving grooves spaced from each other distances corresponding to the lateral spacing of said channels, and said comb portion having filament receiving grooves diverging from the receiving ends of the grooves in the first named portion and having the free ends of said diverging grooves spaced laterally from each other distances corresponding substantially to the spacing between said orifices.

6. Fiber producing apparatus comprising a feeder having a plurality of laterally spaced orifices for flowing a corresponding number of streams of glass to form filaments, means for continuously drawing the filaments, a guide having channels therein associated with said drawing means including a removable device having angularly extending grooved guide and comb portions, said guide portion. having filament receiving grooves spaced laterally from each other distances which are somewhat less than the spacing between the orifices and in alignment with said channels, and said comb portion having filament receiving grooves which diverge from the receiving ends of the grooves in the first portion and are spaced from each other at the free ends distances which correspond to the spacing between the orifices.

7. Fiber producing apparatus comprising a guide having laterally spaced channels for guiding fibers along a predetermined path of travel, a selectively operable plate supported externally of the guide and movable into and out of the path of travel of the fibers for deflecting the fibers from the guide, and means for severing the fibers in the guide directly above the plate.

8. Fiber producing apparatus comprising a guide having laterally spaced channels for guiding fibers along a predetermined path of travel, a plate supported for sliding movement in a plane inclined with respect to said path of travel and movable across the guide channels to deflect the fibers from the guide, and a knife supported for sliding movement transversely of the guide between the entrant end of the latter and deflector for severing the fibers in the guide.

9. Fiber producing apparatus comprising a pair of driving rolls, means for directing a plurality of laterally spaced filaments between the rolls, a guide at the delivery side of the rolls having laterally spaced channels for receiving the filaments, a plate movable across the channels to deflect the filaments out of the guide, and a knife supported for sliding movement transversely of the guide between the rolls and deflector plate for severing the filaments in the guide channels.

WILLIAM F. HOLTSCHULTE.

SAMUEL D. PHILIPPS.

8 REFERENCES CITED Number FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Aug. 27, 1937 

